Building It From The Start
by Cant-Choose-A-Fandom
Summary: Castiel's family is slowly falling apart, and when his sister Anna is diagnosed with schizophrenia their mother sends them to Kansas, saying it has the best hospital. And that's how Castiel found himself in Lawrence in the middle of the school year with his older siblings and cousin and without a house. That is, until a green-eyed teen offers them a place in his foster home.
1. Starting The New Life

_Yayyy! Another story!_

 _I have been wanting to write a Destiel fic for some time now, and I finally did it. This is a Human/Real Life AU witha a happy ending, because that's what they deserve. It's rated T just to be sure, mainly for language._

 _Summary:_ _Castiel's family is slowly falling apart, and when his sister Anna is diagnosed with schizophrenia their mother sends them to Kansas, saying it has the best hospital. And that's how Castiel found himself in Lawrence in the middle of the school year with his older siblings and cousin and without a house. That is, until a green-eyed teen offers them a place in his foster home._

 _Now let's go on._

* * *

1\. STARTING THE NEW LIFE

"Gabriel I swear to god; you kick me one more damn time-" Anna looked ready to introduced Gabriel to the floor, but I wasn't paying attention to their quarrel.

I thought that after seventeen years of living with my siblings, I had seen some pretty bad arguments. The image of Michael and Lucifer screaming at each other the day Lucifer left was still painfully carved into my memory. Sure, there had been other big arguments, but I always thought that this one would be the worst of them. Now I was being forced to fight a few days before over Mom's decision to send Anna to a mental hospital in Kansas had left my ears ringing. It was the first time Gabriel had taken part in the yelling.

Gabriel. The peacemaker.

The one who never took sides, never raised his voice, had screamed his voice hoarse at both Michael and Mom. This was so worse than Lucifer leaving.

The walls seemed to move, closing on me as I recall that night, and I instinctively ran outside. The last thing I needed now was a panic attack.

It was chaos when I back walked inside the house. Gabriel was yelling, wearing only a pair of boxers and a white button down shirt that's not even buttoned up all the way. Michael was yelling back, his red tie thrown over his shoulder, one of his shoes not on his foot. Anna stood at the top of the staircase looking as if she was about to start crying or break something.

Probably the latter.

As I walked inside, all noise came to an halt, three pairs of eyes trained on me.

"Where have you _been_?" Asked Balthazar, sticking his head from behind a door down the hall, like I had been gone for hours instead of a few minutes. I opened my mouth to answer but Michael cut me off. "It doesn't matter." He stated with his firm voice. "You are leaving today and I have to go to work. Go get dressed." He snapped at me in a tone that left no room for disagreements. As I climbed the stairs to my room, I could hear him and Gabriel picking their argument again.

I ignored them, shutting their voices out and concentrated on the task of getting dressed. When I went downstairs again with my blue tie hanging untied from the collar of my white shirt, Michael was already gone and Gabriel was fuming.

"It's fine." Anna assured me as she proceeded to tie the blue piece of fabric. I smiled at her. We didn't tell her we still hadn't found a place to leave. Anna didn't have to worry about that. Besides, there were three of us, we would find something. Lawrence was a big city, certainly an opportunity to stay somewhere would appear.

Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.

Hope is a very weird thing. The concept of believing that something would happen even if there are no concrete evidence of that is a uplifting feeling.

Michael never hoped. Neither did Mom. Dad had always been the believer of the family.

Chuck Shurley, was a pretty laid-back guy and an unrecognized author. He wrote horror and fantasy novels, but so far he hadn't written the masterpiece that would make him rich and famous like our Mom always expected. So consequently, she kicked him out of the house saying that if he couldn't contribute in the money like she did, he didn't have a place in her house. Dad left, telling each one of us that we could always go to him of we wanted to. Mom slammed the door in his face.

Our family continued to go downhill from there.

Our mother, Naomi Novak -who had passionately insisted we take her last name- was the CEO of the Novak Enterprises, the biggest company in the world of business. She was a true business woman in everything she did. Red hair always tied in a tight bun behind her head, suit, tie and an air of authority were her main characteristics. She was a cold and practical woman, devoted to her company. After Dad left, she practically lived in her office, it was a matter of luck if you ever came across her in the house. Every time we -and by we I mean Gabriel- brought it up, she insisted that it was for our benefit. She believed that she was giving us a better life, making money so we could do whatever we wanted -as long as she approved. Both Gabriel and Anna despised her for that. I didn't. I could be angry at her for neglecting us, and for me she was more Naomi than she was Mom, but I couldn't. She whole-heartedly believed that what she was doing was the best she could do.

Michael was the golden child, the heir of the company. He worked there with Mom, and he had come to be exactly as she was. When we were little, he was always the responsible one, always the one to take care of us and persuade Dad to get us out of trouble, but now he was the cold business man in the suit that followed in Mom's footsteps. Always doing what he was told, always looking out for the company, always repeating Mom's argument that it was for our own good.

That drove him and Lucifer apart.

Lucifer was the second son, and different from Michael in every possible way. When we were kids, they were inseparable. It was always Michael and Lucifer; never would you see the one without the other. But as we grew up and Michael started mimicking Mom, Lucifer disagreed. Heated arguments between them occurred every day. Michael stood in Mom's favor, and Lucifer always accused him of being her minion. Dad usually made them stop. Once Dad left, their arguments grew worse, until one day between shouts, curses, hurtful words and fists, Lucifer walked out the front door and never came back.

Gabriel, the third child was exactly like Dad. Laid-back, a trouble maker with a sweet tooth that was the closest with Dad than any of us was. Despite being prone to creating trouble, Gabriel hated fights. He was the peacemaker of the family. Sure, he argued with us like all siblings did, but when Michael and Lucifer started having their fallout, he was the one who backed Dad up to stop their fights, the one who made them apologize to each other. After Dad left, Gabriel distanced himself from Mom, and secretly blamed himself for not being able to stop Lucifer from leaving.

He and Anna were my favorite siblings.

Anna was a quiet girl. She always did what she was told, but not in the extent Michael did. She was schizophrenic, hence the last subject for our family's fights after Lucifer left. She heard voices that no one else heard, and had been since long before Lucifer left. I know Gabriel blames himself for not noticing it as much as I do. Usually when the fights occurred, she would cover her ears with her hands and ran away crying. I always followed her and calmed her down while Gabriel and Dad tried to stop the fight and Mom ignored everyone.

Balthazar Roche was our cousin, and everything Mom disapproved of and Gabriel tried to be. He had insisted on coming with us in Kansas, and frankly I'm grateful. He and I had always been close, and he with his jokes made me believe that everything would be okay when Gabriel starting taking part in fights instead of stopping them.

Coming to Kansas was to make sure Anna had the best hospital care, but for Gabriel it was Mom's way of getting rid of her. When I told him that someone would have to tell Dad, he left and came back three hours later, telling me he'd take care of it. He then told Mom he and I would be going with Anna, and when Balthazar found out all four of us were moving.

We hadn't found a place yet, and we all had our things in the trunk of the car. As much as we didn't talk about it, we all knew that was where we would be staying for the first days.

Turns out, sometimes it's good to be wrong. The opportunity to stay somewhere _did_ appear.

It appeared as one of the most attractive men I'd ever seen.

* * *

We had settled Anna at her new room in the hospital, and Gabriel with Balthazar excused themselves to get some coffee. They promised we would be back tomorrow during visiting hours. I told Anna I'd bring her a book and her eyes lit up.

"Sing to me." Anna asked, her soft brown eyes looking pleadingly up at me. Smiling at her, I started humming the song Dad always used to.

 _"I'm so happy, 'cause today_

 _I've found my friends..._

 _They're in my head_

 _I'm so ugly, but that's okay 'cause so are you..._

 _We've broken our mirrors_

 _Sunday morning is every day for all I care..._

 _And I'm not scared_

 _Light up my candles, in a daze_

 _'Cause I found god."_

There was clapping, and I whipped around to find one of the most handsome guys I'd ever come across. He was leaning against the door frame, smirking and clapping his hands. He was tall and, well... _hot_ , with dirty blonde hair, ripped jeans and a leather jacket. My stare lingered at his eyes, a bright forest green -and I had to do a doubletake to make sure they really were _that green._ I felt my cheeks flush, and not only from embarrassment.

He left the doorframe and made his way towards me. "Let me guess..." he said "your girlfriend?" I gritted my teeth. I didn't like his tone. It sounded dangerously like Balthazar's father, Uriel Roche, when he taunted me. "No." I tried to keep my voice flat. "My sister." His mouth formed a small 'oh'.

"Sorry." He smiled, and he actually looked a bit sheepish. "Nice song choice by the way." I blushed again - _purely_ out of embarrassment this time- mumbling a "thanks".

"If I can ask," he started cautiously "why is she here?"

"Schizophrenia." I answered him honestly, looking down at my sister who was peacefully sleeping. "Anna hears voices, but they are neutral. They hold conversation by themselves and she just listens you know? Sometimes talk to her too." I can't say what had me telling him so much.

"Well that must be fun." He commented lightly. "Overhearing people who don't exist. I bet she has some juicy gossip to tell you." That got a chuckle out of me and he smiled.

"You have someone here too?" I asked to keep the conversation going.

"Me? No, just running an errand for a friend." He dismissed my question. "You're new here?" He put his hands in his back pockets, his body relaxing.

"Yeah, we just moved, to come to the hospital." I confirmed. "I'm from Pontiac, Illinois."

"Well in that case, welcome to Kansas." He smiled warmly at me, and I returned the gesture. "Even though the mental hospital ward isn't the most fun place to spend your time." I laughed and he grinned at me. "No, I suppose it isn't." I agreed.

"I'm Dean by the way." He stuck his hand out. "Dean Winchester."

I shook it. "Castiel Novak." I mentally prayed he didn't know about the company. If he did, he didn't show it.

"Well I don't know about you Cas, but I could really use a cup of coffee." Ignoring the tugging feeling in my stomach when he called me Cas -which no one else did- I followed him out the door.

* * *

I spotted Gabriel and Balthazar as soon as Dean and I walked through the hospital cafe. I started towards them and Dean followed me. Gabriel was explaining something to Balthazar who was pretending to be listening. He was frantically waving his hands around, almost smacking me across the face when I approached him.

"-and I am going to have a party on his grave- oh hey Castiel!" Gabriel exclaimed when he saw me and flashed me an innocent smile.

"Who do you plan on killing Gabriel?" I asked in a bored tone, taking a seat next to them and pulling one for Dean as well.

"Michael." Gabriel sighed in exasperation. "He and Mom aren't coming." I was about to tell him how Mom wouldn't come anyway, when I noticed Balthazar eyeing Dean suspiciously. "Oh, guys, this is Dean, Dean, my brother Gabriel and my cousin Balthazar." I introduced them.

"Do all your family has weird names?" Dean asked, but judging from his tone I could tell he didn't mean it as an insult.

"Do all your family has boring names?" Balthazar retorted.

"I'll take that as yes." Dean said. When Gabriel didn't make a comment like I expected him to but just stared into space, I waved my hand in front of his face. "Gabriel! What's gotten into you?"

Apparently, he just needed an excuse to blow up.

"What's gotten into me? How about the fact that Anna is in a mental hospital, we just moved to freaking Kansas in the middle of a school year, Michael and Mom aren't coming, Lucifer is god-knows-where and we still have no place to stay?" He all but snapped at me.

"You guys have no place to stay?" Dean asked in surprise. Gabriel's head whipped to Dean with a speed surprising for him.

"No," he said cautiously "we don't have a place _yet_. _"_

"That's fine, you guys can stay at my place." I stared at him, and so did Gabriel and Balthazar.

"You don't even know us." I pointed out. Dean rolled his eyes.

"No, but I live in a foster home. That's what foster homes usually are for, no?" He shrugged. "I can even let you pay if you want." He joked.

"And how do we know you're not a serial killer or something?" Dean rolled his eyes again at Balthazar.

"Yes, because all serial killers hang out at mental hospitals, and pretend to be orphans to lure victims into their death."

"Okay fine." Gabriel snapped. He was always angry those days. It had been -and still is- hard to get used to that new Gabriel that was scowling at everyone. I hoped our new beggining here would bring back the old Gabriel who laughed loudly and cracked stupid jokes. "We'll stay at your place. Lead the way." He stood up.

"Awesome." Dean mimicked him. "Do you have a car?"

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	2. Settling In

_Yes, daily update. I had time so I thought, why the hell not? Don't get used to it though. It probably won't last.  
_

 _Now shall we?_

* * *

2\. SETTLING IN

Dean's place was an old salvage yard.

"My uncle used to own the place." He explained as we walked through the crashed cars. "Well… he was not really my uncle, but that's what it felt like. He practically adopted pretty much every street kid and turned his place into a foster house. He and his wife Ellen died a few years back in a fire, but we still stay and run the place. Work the garage as well." Something in his voice told me he wouldn't like questions about his uncle. "Here we are." Dean stopped in front of a house.

I guess it was a big house in normal standards, even if it looked like the janitor's closet of our old house. As we walked through the yard filled with dozens of wrecked cars to get there, Dean was attacked by a kid that couldn't have been more than seven.

"Dean!" He beamed, showing off a smile his a few teeth missing. He was blonde like Dean, but his eyes were a duller green, almost grey.

"Hi Adam." Dean affectionately ruffled his hair as the little boy hugged Dean's knees.

"Who are they?" He looked at us with curiosity in his expression.

"New kids." Dean smirked sideways at us.

"Awesome!" Adam yelled excitedly. "I'll go tell Jen!" Adam tugged at Dean's sleeve and then started sprinting to where he'd come from.

"That was my little brother, Adam." Dean supplied. "He's seven."

"He's cute." I smiled. Dean laughed.

"I think you'll like them." Dean said as they reached the wooden door. He began to open it.

 _"PUT THAT THING BACK WHERE IT CAME FROM OR SO HELP ME GOD-"_ Dean slammed the door shut and blinked. "I don't think anyone's home." He lied and I rolled my eyes.

"Open the door Dean."

Dean grinned and opened the door again. As we walked inside, there was a loud, shrieking noise from outside, of metal banging against metal.

"Oh crap!" He cursed. "Go in, I gotta fix that. Be right back." He ran towards the noise before waiting for an answer. We didn't stay alone for long though, because a figure moved out of the shadows.

A girl, a year or so younger than me, with blue hair pulled back, and emerald green eyes stood there with a lollipop in her mouth. She smiled at us, her eyes looking us up and down before settling on our suitcases and back at our faces. Her hair was not just one shade of blue, but rather various shades, making them look like waves. "I'm Jenna. Jenna Barton." She played with the lollipop in her mouth. "And you are...?"

"Castiel Novak. And that's my brother Gabriel, and Balthazar Roche -my cousin." I introduced us.

"Let's meet you with the others." A warm smile accompanied her suggestion.

* * *

The first person we met was Sam, as he crashed into us, running -or better yet jumping- down the stairs.

"OUCH!" Gabriel yelled as a thirteen-year-old teen with shaggy brown hair knocked him to the ground.

"That's Sam." Jenna said as she helped him up, while Balthazar and I dragged Gabriel back on his feet.

"You're the guys Adam's rambling about?" He asked us, though it was Jenna who answered him.

"That's Gabriel, Balthazar and Castiel." She pointed at each one of us respectively.

"Hello." I smiled awkwardly at Sam.

"Hi, I'm Sam. Sam Winchester." His extended hand was left in the air because there was a loud crush from the living room.

"YOU BETTER GET YOUR FUCKING FEET AWAY FROM ME IF YOU WANT TO KEEP THEM!"

"That's Kevin." Jenna said and started to follow Sam, who was already making his way towards the living room. There, there were two teens on the couch, a redhead girl and an Asian boy who I assumed was Kevin. But before we could properly introduce ourselves, a girl came bombing down the stairs. She was wearing a bathrobe and a green face mask, a towel on her head. Spotting us, she cringed, before hissing at Jenna.

"You didn't tell me we had guests- oh my god, I look like a kiwi!" And she bombed up the stairs as quickly as she had come down.

"That was Jo. Jo Harvelle. Her mom used to own the place." Jenna explained. "And that's Kevin Tran and Charlie Bradbury, and- where's Benny?"

"Doing the dishes." The redhead, Charlie, shrugged. "And you are...?" She looked at us through her glasses.

"I'm Castiel Novak." I decided to speak. "And that's my brother Gabriel, and my cousin Balthazar Roche. Dean said we could stay here."

"Of course he did." She was in the process of rolling her eyes when they snapped back on us. "Wait, Novak as in Novak Enterprises Novak?" Gabriel fixed her with a snapped yes and a glare worthy of Michael's and she didn't press further.

"Why aren't you guys watching TV?" Jenna changed the subject, collapsing down on the armchair on the right to the couch.

"We refuse to let technology and fake reality TV corrupt our young minds." Charlie said dramatically.

"Nice try Charlie." Kevin said sarcastically. "Charlie threw the remote at the wall earlier and broke it, and the power button at the side of the TV isn't working." He explained, earning him a kick from Charlie. Balthazar, Gabriel and I took a seat at the opposite couch.

"So... Castiel." Charlie grinned at me. "How did you end up here?"

"Dean offered us to stay at his house when he found we didn't have one to go." Gabriel answered for me. Charlie nodded at him.

"Where's Ash?" Kevin off-handedly asked to make conversation.

"Downstairs, dating his computer." Jenna rolled her eyes. "Ash is Jo's brother by the way." She informed us. "You'll meet him tomorrow, hopefully."

"Hey, I lured Ash to the kitchen with pancakes yesterday! How come we didn't think of it before?" Charlie suddenly asked Jenna, who just shrugged at her in response.

"What didn't we think of before?" A Cajun accent asked. We looked up to a boy with military short brown hair and soft features leaning on the door frame. He was wearing a 'kiss the cook' apron. "Who are they?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at us which had a baby blue color.

"Gabriel, Balthazar, Castiel." Jenna replied with an eye roll while pointing at each one of us respectfully for the third time today. "They're staying with us now. Did you finish the dishes Miss?" The boy looked down at his robe.

"Oh screw you." He shot her a glare and she grinned. "I'm Benny. Benny Lafitte, not that the last name matters." He nodded at us. "Go show them their rooms Jen, or do you expect them to find them themselves?" Jenna sent him a glare, but it's effect was ruined by her not-so-well-hidden grin. She made a show of walking out the living room, and Charlie threw her a pillow. Laughing as she caught it in mid-air and threw it back she gestured for us to follow her.

"Move along girls." Behind me, Balthazar huffed in annoyance. This was going to be such an interesting year.

* * *

Our rooms were in the upper floor.

It was a floor with four rooms and one bathroom. The girls had the biggest room, which was next to the bathroom. Kevin, Ash and Sam shared the one next to it, and Dean with Benny and little Adam had the smallest one at the end of the corridor. Our new room was alone at the far end of the house.

As we learnt from Jenna -who was very talkative if she wanted- Bobby Singer lived here with his wife Karen, and they had a son named Garth who was studying to be a dentist. A decade after Karen died Bobby married Ellen Harvelle, who was Jo and Ash's mom.

"They turned the place into a foster home after I came here." Jenna continued the story. "When my family died in a plane crash and I survived, I got in a bus and ended up in Lawrence. Dean, Sam and Adam were already here, so Ellen and Bobby decided that they might as well legally take kids in. Bobby was a family friend to Dean, Sam and Adam's parents, who came to live here when their parents died. Kevin showed up not long after, running from Child Services. Benny -also a runaway- came next and Charlie was already living here, she only moved in with us when her parents had a car crash. Her dad died, but her mom's in a coma at the hospital."

I recalled Dean's words back at the hospital. Was Charlie's mom that _errand for a friend_ he was running?

"Two years ago, the place had suddenly caught on fire while we were all at school, and Bobby and Ellen were trapped inside. Dean won't even light the fireplace now."

"Why?" I asked before I could process doing it. The comment with Dean was very off-hand.

"Dean has an ahh- bad history with fires." I suspected there was more to that story, but Jenna didn't elaborate.

A door slamming hard in the lower floor and a loud "I'M BACK!" signaled Dean's return in true speak-of-the-devil fashion. Jenna just rolled her eyes.

"If you need anything don't hesitate to ask." She smiled. "Come down when you've settled in. We already ate, but there's always something in the fridge, and besides, we have a movie night, so popcorn!" She disappeared down the stairs with a military salute.

"That bed belongs to me!" Balthazar claimed the bed next to the door. I threw my suitcase in the one next to the window and thanked anyone who listened for taking only one with me -and not three Mom wanted. Like I would ever possibly need _three_ suitcases.

"Hey." I turned to find Dean standing in the doorway. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to get a tour around." His eyes were focused solely on me.

"No thanks." Balthazar answered first. "Jenna already gave us the history run-down, I'm not in for a geography class."

Dean shrugged. "Whatever dude."

"I'd like that." His eyes snapped on me again, and I willed myself not to blush. "I would like to see the place."

He grinned. "Awesome."

* * *

At the stairs we met with a blonde girl I assumed was Jo. She stopped short when she saw us.

"Um, hi." She smiled awkwardly, but it was a real smile. "I'm sorry about earlier." Dean raised an eyebrow but she ignored him. "I'm Jo Harvelle."

"Castiel Novak." We shook hands.

"Like the Novak Enterprises?" If I had a penny every time someone asked me that…

"Yes, my Mom is the CEO." She didn't press further, but I suspected that had to Dean who was looking at me with surprise.

"Really? Dude, I didn't make the connection."

"It's fine." I said tightly, and he obviously took the hint that I didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm going to give Cas a tour around." Dean told Jo. She nodded and started towards the living room.

"So, what was Jo talking about?" Dean asked when we were outside.

"She might have come down the stairs in a bathrobe and a green face mask, and then left running when she saw us."

Dean burst out laughing. "No wonder she was embarrassed." I nodded absently, looking around in the yard.

It was a huge space with concrete and trashed cars, like you expected any salvage yard to be. The cars were in rows, apart from each in a space that fit three people walking side by side. At the far end I could just make out a sign that read "AUTO SHOP" with yellow, uneven letters.

"Why did you run off before?"

"Why did I- oh! I'm working on a car that got towed by a truck, and it's not very ahh… stable." I frowned.

"If it got towed by a truck why not just buy a new one?"

Dean shrugged. "The guy's attached to it. Can't blame him though. If it was my car I wouldn't replace it either."

"You own a car?" I felt my eyes widen, even knowing I should have expected it. Dean was around my age _of course_ and he had a car.

Dean laughed at my surprise. "Of course, I own the best car in the yard. What did you think, just because I walked to the hospital I'm carless?"

"That's not a word." I felt myself frown again, and I knew that I was doing the stupid head tilt thing again, but Dean ignored me. He strode purposely thought the wrecked cars, and came to a halt in front of the only car that was proudly still standing with all its parts.

"You own a '67 Chevy Impala?" My eyes were probably bugging out, but can you blame me? The car is a classic. Dean just laughed again. His car was spotless and shining under the sun. You could barely make out a few bumps from old crashes, but it was obvious that it was cared for.

"It suits you." I said and it was true. You could never guess what car Dean was driving if you didn't know it, but somehow the black Impala suited like no car would.

Dean blinked at me but then quickly replaced it with a grin that lit up his eyes. "'Course it does."

"So, what about the school?" I decided to bring up the subject that had been bugging me. I had never moved during school year before so I was a little worried about the classes. Dean groaned but answered anyway, presenting the local school as big and nice but boring as hell. We walked around for a while, dropping the topic of school after Dean's request.

 _"MOVIE TIME BITCHES!"_ Charlie's voice carried through the yard loud and clear.

"You like Star Wars, right?" Dean asked me as we made our way back.

"I haven't seen it." I said. Truth is, I haven't seen many movies at all, because Mom thinks they corrupt people's perspective of reality. When Dad lived with us we usually had a movie night every Saturday, but that was in the past.

 _"WHAT?"_ Dean looked horrified. "We'll fix that." He decided finally and dragged me determinately towards the house.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	3. First Day At Kansas High

_So, I realised that my other chapters don't have disclaimers, so I apologize. I also realised that I own you guys reading my Lord of the Rings story a new chapter, and I promise I'm working on it.  
_

 _Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognise._

* * *

3\. FIRST DAY AT KANSAS HIGH  


"CHARLIE YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Was what I woke up to the next morning.

"I REGRET NOTHING!" Charlie's voice yelled back. Balthazar had been woken by Kevin like I had, but it was Charlie's voice that finally startled Gabriel awake. He jolted up with wild eyes, tried to get off the bed, got tangled in the sheets and managed to land on his face in the wooden floor, his body still trapped among the colorful sheets on the mattress. The yelling outside covered his groans of pain.

"KE- KEVIN PUT THE BASEBALL BAT DOWN!" Cried yet another voice, which I identified as Adam's. Kevin, as it seemed, did not have such intentions.

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!"

"DO NOT HIT CHARLIE WITH THAT BAT- DO NOT THROW CHARLIE DOWN THE STAIRS. PUT HER DOWN." Jo yelled loudly. Taking pity on Gabriel who was uselessly fighting with his sheets from his awkward position half on the bed and half on the floor, I got up and helped him.

"FINE!"

"Should we… um-" Balthazar pointed towards the closed door behind which the yelling continued. Deciding we probably _should_ go see what was going on, I abandonated Gabriel and headed towards the door, turning it open. If we thought the yelling was loud before, opening the door worsened the noise. Jo was practically screaming. "Okay, we j- DID YOU SERIOUSLY JUST PUSHED HER DOWN THE STAIRS?"

The whole screen was both comical and horrifying. Charlie and Dean were lying on the floor at the bottom of the stairs, groaning in pain. Next to me Adam was crying and Jenna was trying to comfort him while simultaneously chewing out Kevin. She was wearing only an oversized black tee that Adam was clutching like a lifeline and wetting with tears and Kevin was standing there as if he couldn't decide if he should look ashamed or angry, holding a baseball bat. Benny was in his boxers and a white tee-shirt, shaking his head before giving up and heading to the bathroom and Sam looked torn between comforting Adam and running towards Dean. Jo was taking to the only person I didn't recognize, who was a boy around fourteen with longy ashy hair that looked worse than a bird's nest. I assumed he had to be Ash, but I didn't ponder on it very long, instead climbing down the stairs to where Dean and Charlie were.

"Sweet mother Mary of Jesus, that hurt." Charlie groaned, still lying on the floor -or better yet on Dean.

"Help me." Dean pleaded as he tried to push Charlie off him.

"What happened?" I asked, offering him a hand, even though I had figured out something from all the yelling.

"Kevin threw me down the stairs-" Charlie began, accepting the helping hand from Jo who had appeared behind me.

"And he dragged me with her." Dean finished, rather darkly, accepting the hand I offered him.

"You were in the way." Charlie muttered, brushing herself off and straightening her Lord of the Rings pajamas. "I'll go get some ice."

After seeing that his big brother and Charlie were okay, Adam agreed to let Sam help him get ready for school, and that's what everybody else did, fighting their way to the bathroom. It was a lost fight, so I didn't even try. Instead I stayed behind with Dean, offering him one of the two packs of ice Charlie brought before she too, headed upstairs. Dean was only in a pair of boxers, which meant that his chest was bare, revealing well-built muscles I was totally _not_ starring at. I was just examining the damage from the fall and I was _not_ blushing.

"This is going to leave bruises." I commented as I took a closer look at his back which seemed to have received most of the damage.

"Nothing new then." Dean said, wincing slightly as the ice-pack connected with bare skin. "Come on, I want to finish with the bathroom as soon as possible." He said as we climbed back up the stairs.

"I don't think that's possible." I said and it was true, Jo and Sam were already waiting outside the door. Dean smirked.

"Watch and learn." He said and went to stand behind them. As soon as the door opened to reveal Charlie, Dean pushed through them and slipped inside, locking the door behind him.

"ASS!" Jo irritably yelled and kicked the door before walking off. Sam looked like he had swallowed a lemon, his lips pressed together and a glare directed at Dean who was safely hiding behind the door. He pounded on it once. "These pancakes had better be worth it, jerk!"

"Bitch!" Dean's voice sounded through the wood, and even I could tell he had a smirk on his face. Accepting that I would probably be the last one on the bathroom, I headed towards my room. Kevin and Charlie had decided to wake us early because it was only six and a half as Gabriel so kindly pointed out five times. As I pulled a clean shirt over my head, I decided that that should be our rising time, especially if I wanted to get in the bathroom before the other eleven habitats of the foster home did. I had finished getting dressed before either of my roommates, so I wasn't the last one last on the bathroom, but my shower felt more like a swim in a frozen lake. However, the smell of pancakes made up for it. I hadn't eaten pancakes since Dad was home. Well... I hadn't done anything fun or family-bonding since Dad was home, so there was that.

The sight of the kitchen brought a feeling of nostalgia because it has exactly like our family used to be in the early years before it went downhill. Dean was moving around with a frying pan, depositing pancakes at the plates on the table with help from Benny. Adam was being fed by Jenna since he was too busy talking with her and Sam to do so himself. Jo was fishing for syrups from the kitchen cabinets and Charlie and Ash were completely devoted to their breakfast. I took a seat next to Charlie and immediately dug into the three pancakes coated with honey that were in front of me.

"I wanted those!" Jo complained, but I was too busy chewing to reply. The pancakes were _fantastic_. Balthazar and Gabriel joined us not long after, and Gabriel looked like his birthday had come early. He adored all kinds of sweets, always carrying suckers and candies in his pockets. The light chatter and laughter that had been going on for some time was broken when all of a sudden Ash screeched "HOLY MOTHER-!" at the top of his lungs, and proceeded to fall off his chair.

"Who the hell are they?" he pointed at us.

 _"They_ are the new kids, something you would have known had you left your computer yesterday." Jo said pointedly. Ash had the decency to look sheepish.

"I'm Ash Harvelle."

"Castiel Novak."

"Dude, Novak like-"

"Yeah, the enterprises. Can we please just eat now?" Dean cut him off. Ash nodded and dropped the subject, not without a curious glance though. I sent Dean a grateful smile which he just acknowledged with a smirk that was lost as he swallowed a pancake.

"Gabriel Novak." Gabriel introduced himself formally, as Balthazar mumbled his name around a mouthful of food. Usually embarrassing people was Gabriel's characteristic. "I love the hair." The smirk in the end of the sentence said that he did _not_ love the hair. Typical Gabriel. Ash's hair was indeed kind of weird. He had long ashy hair, but only in the back. At the front, his hair was short. Ash though didn't seem offended by Gabriel's pointed insult.

"Yeah, all business up front, party in the back." He gestured to his hair with a grin, and his mouth full. Charlie rolled her eyes.

"Well all this is fun and everything, but Adam has to go to school, and so do the rest of you." Jenna pointed out as she stood up. "Ready kiddo?" She smiled at Adam who grinned, pushing his plate back and hoping off from his chair.

"Well move it middle school!" Dean said, and Sam gave him the same sour look he had back at the bathroom. He, Kevin and Sam stood up as well and followed a running Adam out the front door. Jenna gave them a military salute as she left as well.

"So, I assume you guys are in high school like us?" Charlie asked.

"They are." Gabriel pointed at me and Balthazar. "I'm twenty-two."

"Twenty-two." Dean gaped. "Dude no offence, but what are you doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't let Anna come here alone now, could I? What kind of big bro would I be? And of course, Cassie and Balthy were too nice to let me come alone. But I didn't manage to find a house in time, so here we are."

"So you're stuck here with Benny." Jo concluded. At Gabriel's questioning look she added "He graduated last year."

"Yeah whatever." Dean stood up, throwing all the dirty plates in the sink. "Have fun cleaning the dishes." He grabbed his bag and walked out of kitchen, and I decided to mimic Charlie and Jo who followed him. Balthazar seemed to have the same idea, because he was behind me as we walked to Dean's car.

"Ready for your first day?" Jo asked with a smile as she piled in. I wished I could say yes.

* * *

Even with our early rising, we were dangerously close to being late, so we parted as we walked through the school's doors. Kansas High was a big building like Dean had said, painted a faint yellow, and surprisingly old. The paint was peeled off at some parts in the walls, and at night it probably looked like the perfect haunting place.

After we established that I was a senior and Balthazar was a freshman like Jo, Charlie left to find Jenna at their science class, Jo dragged Balthazar to the office for his timetable, and that's where Dean and I went as well. When the principal asked Dean to give me a tour around, promising to excuse him from his classes, Dean all but cheered.

"You don't like school much, do you?" I asked as Dean was practically bouncing from excitement in the prospect of missing class.

"Nope. Just doing enough to graduate. After that I'll take over the auto shop. What about you?" His green eyes bore into mine. I took some time before I finally answered. My Mom of course, wanted me to work in the company. Hell, after Lucifer who left, Anna who couldn't because schizophrenia and Gabriel who wanted nothing to do with it, she _expected_ me to work in the company with Michael. I would rather study art, but if I ever told my mother that, she would probably disown me on the spot.

"My Mom wants me to work in the company." I answered finally.

"U-huh." Dean nodded. "And what do _you_ want to do?" It had been a while since anyone asked me that. Honestly, the last person I told about my dreams was Gabriel when he told me he wanted to ditch the company and go open a bakery. But Dean's eyes were focused on me with genuine curiosity and expectance and I didn't look away.

"Art." I admitted. "I want to study art." Dean smiled.

"That's great! You must be good if you want to study art. I mean, I can't draw to save my life." I nodded and ducked my head to hide the faint blush that should _not_ be there. He hadn't even delivered a proper compliment, he was just assuming it. "So that's what you'll do, go be some badass, famous painter like Picasso or something?" I resisted the urge to laugh, and settled for rolling my eyes.

"Not every painter is guaranteed to be Picasso-famous Dean." I said. "Besides, I would take comics over cubism any day."

"Comic artist then?" A raised eyebrow accompanie the suggestion.

"Yes, that would be great." Dean frowned.

"Would? Why not? If you want to study art, you must be good. Like really good. You wanna be a comic artist, go be one. I mean, what's the worst thing that could happen?"

"I could get disowned, end up homeless and die in the streets." I rolled my eyes, repeating the exact thing I had told Gabriel in a similar discussion.

"That's not true." Dean argued, brows furrowed together. "Even if you get disowned, I have a feeling Gabriel wouldn't let you die in the streets. You would probably go live with him."

"Yeah, _if_ Gabriel finds a place that fits more than one person and doesn't end up opening his bakery and sleeping in the back."

Dean snorted. "Still, even if that happens, you live with us now. We don't let our own die in the streets." He smiled, and then seemed to realise what I said.

"Wait, Gabriel wants to open a bakery? Really?"

"Yes, and Mom wasn't very happy about it. The only reason _he_ didn't get disowned is because he announced it around the time Anna was diagnosed with schizophrenia, so Mom didn't give it much thought."

"What about your Dad?" My expression must have closed off pretty quick because Dean hurried to take it back. "You don't have to tell me, it's fine, I understand."

"No, it's okay." I smiled at him. It wasn't that I didn't want to talk about it or something, I mean let's face it the guy wasn't dead. It just brought back memories and... yeah, so maybe talking about it wasn't first in my to-do list. "He's not dead or something, he just doesn't live with us anymore. I could probably go live with him if it comes to that. He's a writer, but not a famous and rich one, so Mom kicked him out of the house. Don't mention him to Gabriel though, it's a sore point for him."

"Oh." Dean blinked. "Well, no offence, but your Mom is a bitch." I found myself laughing at the comment, and actually agreeing with it. Not that I would ever admit that out loud.

"None taken."

"So, you have a cool dad you could go live with. See? Problem solved." His smile was contagious. "Now let's get to the cafeteria. Out of the way people! New meat coming through!" He pushed students away and laughed off the glares directed at the two of us.

* * *

The rest of the day passed in a blur, and soon, I found myself seating on the kitchen table, doing my homework with everyone else.

"How was your day Jo?" Ash asked from his notebook next to Sam.

"Oh, same old, same old. Guys try to flirt with me, they get handsy, I punch them." Jo waved a hand dismissively.

"Balthazar punched them." Jenna corrected and rolled her eyes.

"Balthazar?" Dean raised an eyebrow. That got much attention from the others, because even Ash abandonated his notes in favor of looking at Balthazar.

"Yeah, this one guy was harassing me and Balthazar broke his nose." Dean seemed impressed as he looked over at my cousin.

"Got a crush Balthy?" Gabriel whispered, so low I barely heard him. Balthazar kicked him in response. Before the two of them managed to start an argument, I nudged Gabriel and gave him a pointed look.

"Yeah, whatever." Gabriel rolled his eyes. "I'll go get a shower, and then we'll visit Anna at the hospital." I nodded absently, and the abruptly realized I hadn't found a book like I promised Anna. Shit.

"What's wrong Cas?" Dean was frowning at me, and I realized I swore out loud.

"I didn't get Anna a book like I promised." I said admitted.

"That's not a problem." Charlie said. "Here." She pulled a book out of her bag and handed it to me. It was a copy of The Hobbit, with a black cover. "I have three copies, you can take this one." She added when she saw my hesitation.

"Thanks." I smiled gratefully.

"Nothing." Charlie smiled back. "Just make sure to tell her it was me who gave you the book. Is she cute?" I laughed and so did the others.

"I don't think that'll work." Balthazar said. "Anna's not a lesbian. Cassie here is the rainbow kid of the family." He ruffled my hair, and I smacked his hand away, trying to hide the heat that rose to my cheeks.

"You're gay?" Dean seemed genuinely surprised. "Damn, those girls at the school are going to be so disappointed when they find out." I blushed even harder.

"Don't worry. We don't have problems with sexuality here." Charlie assured me. "I'm a lesbian and Dean is bi so it would make us hypocrites." I couldn't help staring at Dean, and feel a flare of hope sparking against my will and I crushed it down. I did _not_ have a crush. Dean must have seen me starring because he shrugged.

"Wait." Sam said, turning our attention to him. "You're telling me Gabriel is not the gay one?" Balthazar and I simultaneously burst out laughing.

"Well, technically he is." I said once I had regained my ability to breathe.

"He's pan." Balthazar supplied, slightly breathless. "You know, pansexual." Sam nodded. As if on cue, Gabriel appeared at the door.

"Ready guys?" Both Balthazar and I nodded, and got up to follow him to the car.

"TELL YOUR SISTER NEXT TIME WE'RE COMING ALONG TOO!" Charlie called before we left.

* * *

Anna was listening to Gabriel explain our current situation to her. The white clothes made her red hair stand out even more. Looking at her grinning at me when I brought her The Hobbit, I couldn't help comparing her to Charlie. They both had red hair, but the similarities ended there and on the fact that they both liked books. Anna's eyes were a dark brown, where Charlie's had a green-brown color. Charlie was also way more talkative and outgoing, whereas Anna was an introverted like me. She looked paler in the white surrounding of the hospital, but happy.

"The guy who helped you-" Anna started.

"Dean Winchester." Gabriel supplied helpfully.

"Yes, him. He must be really nice."

"And hot." Balthazar winked at me.

"Balthazar!" I felt my cheeks flush and next to me Anna giggled.

"What?" Balthazar defended. "It's true! You look into his eyes and you're definitely gay for a couple of seconds." Anna laughed outright, and just that was worth my embarrassment.

The rest of the time we were there we exchanged stories and impressions. Mostly it was Gabriel complaining about what a crappy morning he had with Benny who forced to help around in the autoshop and Balthazar describing what happened when he punched the guy who was harrassing Jo down to the last detail. I forced myself to find as many things about my day as I could, and I ended up mostly describing the morning incident and what Dean said about me being a comic artist. Anna seemed to respect Dean even more after that and she was positively thrilled about meeting them. She liked the hospital so far, and she had made a couple of friends in the therapy sessions. Gabriel left after some point to talk to a doctor, and he came back not long after.

"Guess what!" He beamed as he entered the room. I rolled my eyes because Gabriel saying that with that much excitement could either mean that they were letting Anna go tomorrow, or that they had put chocolate chips in the cafeteria.

"What Gabriel?"

"Well firstly, Anna will probably discharged by the end of the school year and secondly, she will be able to come home for the Christmas holidays."

"No way!" Balthazar yelled so loudly a nurse passing outside glared at him. "That's great!" He whisper-yelled. Anna threw herself at Gabriel and hugged him.

A few hours later we were kicked out by the nurses.

"BYE ANNA!" Gabriel yelled, waving his hand.

"WE'LL COME BACK TOMORROW!" Balthazar promised as one of the nurses dragged them both out of the room.

"See you tomorrow." I smiled at Anna who was looking up with barely concealed laughter. The strict-looking nurse threatened not to let us in again, and I wondered what would she do tomorrow, since there would be nine more people visting.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	4. Falling Into A Routine

_I know it's been some time, but we are going for our summer holidays in a place with zero internet connection for miles, so that makes updates a bit harder. I promise I'll update whenever I can. This story will finish. As always thanks for the reviews, I appreciate them._

 _ **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize._

* * *

4\. FALLING INTO A ROUTINE  


The second day at Singer's Foster Home started great -for me at least. I'm proud to say that I was one the first people to wake up and, consequently, have a hot shower. I was the third one in, with Sam and Dean before me and Jenna still blinking sleep from her eyes as she went in after me. Dean made waffles for breakfast, and I think everyone would agree with me when I say they were the best waffles I've ever had. You could say whatever you wanted about Dean, but his skills in the kitchen demanded respect. I think he's the only one in the house that actually knows how to cook something edible. And maybe Jenna too. Jo might also be able to cook something decent, but I wasn't taking my chances with anyone else.

Especially us for that matter. Gabriel _could_ cook -it was kinda necessary to open a bakery- but his knowledge was limited to pies and cupcakes. THe last time Balthazar had tried to cook was two years ago when we visited him in Britain for Halloween and he ended up blowing the kitchen. Aunt Rachel was something less than pleased. I think that must have been the only time I saw her show genuine emotion.

I, for my part, could barely work the toaster. My skills in the kitchen were little to non-existant, so I didn't push my luck by trying. Ten minutes later, no one was left upstairs. Everyone had been gathered around the kitchen table for breakfast. Of course, as I was starting to realise, they weren't many things in this house that could be done without arguments or extreme situations. The first sign that our breakfast was going to be interesting was Sam's exclamation of "Dean, don't inhale your food!" to which Dean replied with something along the lines "Not my fault you woke up with a stick up your ass." Much more _politely_ of course. Sam however, did not falter, and continued to scold his brother, and not only.

"Dean, stop hogging the bacon!"

"Gabriel, candy is not breakfast!"

"Balthazar, whiskey is not breakfast either!" At this point Jo had joined in, and after she snatched the bottle of whiskey from Balthazar, -where did he even get one?- she hid it somewhere in the house.

"I'll still find it!" Balthazar yelled after her.

"I wanna see you try." Jo smirked challegingly at him as she sat back down.

"Can we eat without conflict?" Jenna asked, voicing my thoughts. There was a chorus of nos, and she sighed.

"Just ignore them." Kevin adviced me. "It works for me." It was a little ridiculus to talk to a Kevin with bright pink hair, (thanks to Charlie's prank yesterday) but it was better not to mention it. I was partly sure he would try to strangle Charlie again because the dye hadn't gotten out yet.

"Out the door we go!" Dean yelled after everyone had finished their breakfast. He and Jenna made a pile of the dirty dishes, which they handed over to an unwilling Gabriel before we left. Gabriel glared at their retreating backs, directing a flow of words that would make a sailor blush towards them. Dean pointedly ignored him and Jenna laughed, showing him her middle finger.

* * *

School was proving to be the only boring part of my day.

The classes passed in a blur, with the most exciting thing that happened today being Dean back-mouthing teachers and earning two detentions. We had also a shitload of homework I was not looking forward to doing. With a bit of luck, I could finish them before dinner.

"What do you think of Kansas so far?" Dean asked as we made our way towards the parking lot to meet the others.

"It's nice, better than city." I admitted, adjusting the strap of my bag on my shoulder. "It's quiter and more peaceful here. I like it better here."

Dean snorted. "I don't think our little family could be considered _peaceful."_ He said.

"More like really and spontaneously violent." I agreed with a chuckle. "But seriously, you guys love each other and your arguments are more for fun, they are never serious. It's great, living with you, and more interesting than anything in my old house."

Dean smiled. "I'm glad you like us." And then he seemed to remember something. "As for our fights not being serious, there was that first month Benny came here that we, like, _hated_ each other." I arched a brow in silent question, because from what I'd seen so far Dean and Benny were probably best friends. "Yeah, and after we started getting along, it was Sam that would just _not_ get along with Benny. Jenna said that he was jealous, but I don't think so, I mean, there wasn't anything to be jealous of." He turned to me with a puzzled expression, and I nodded, not sure where he was getting at. Benny and Sam got along just fine. "But then, it was the accident with the lake and Kevin's underwear and they started again on friendlier terms." He opened the driver's door just as I reached for the door handle.

"The accident with the lake and Kevin's underwear?" I asked, trying hard to hold back a smile. Dean laughed, and rested his shoulder on the partly open door. I did my best not to stare.

"Yeah, it's one hell of a story-" But unfortunately I never learnt what happened because that exact moment we were rudely interrupted by Charlie.

"DING DONG BITCHES!" She and Jenna were racing towards us while Jo and Balthazar walked behind them, engrossed in their conversation and completely oblivious to their surroundings. Jenna manged to stop in time in front of the Impala, but Charlie miscalculated and accidently tackled me, resulting in both of us laying in a mess of limbs on the pavement. Dean and Jenna were red-faced from laughing, and soon Charlie and I joined them.

"What did we miss?" Balthazar asked as he and Jo arrived, which just caused us to laugh harder. Taking deep breaths when my laughing subsided, I could finally make out Jo and Balthazar standing there with identical dumbfounded expressions, and I burst out laughing again.

It was a while before we all finally stopped laughing, and an even longer while before Charlie finally stopped giggling. The ride home didn't help either, consisting mainly of Dean rocking out to Eye Of The Tiger while simultaniously trying not to crash the car, and Jenna recalling the incident in their science class, where a student's expirement exploded in his face.

Surprising as it may seem, we reached the house in one piece ten minutes later. Our group of teenagers walked into the living room to see Gabriel, Sam, Kevin and Adam standing on the couch.

"You're playing the floor is lava?" Jenna chuckled.

"Nah." Sam said. "We're playing 'there's a huge ass spider somewhere on the ground and we don't know where.'"

"I KILLED IT!" Benny's voice boomed from somewhere further inside the house.

"Then why didn't you fucking say so?" Gabriel grumbled in annoyance and I rolled my eyes. Slowly, the four of them were walking on the floor again. Unfortunately, it was that part of the day when we had to finish our homework, so we made our way to the table (or the floor in Jenna's case), and tried to write them. (Grumbling all the way if your name is Dean Winchester and Balthazar Roche.)

"What's the significance of the quote 'wine-colored rug, making a shadow on it as wind does on the sea'?" Charlie asked after a while, looking down at her assignment with a frown.

"They can get as drunk as they want and no one will see the stains on the rug?" Dean offered. A laughter rippled through the room.

"It's foreshadowing." I answered Charlie with a small smile on my face. "If the carpet is 'wine-colored' then it's most likely red. And 'like the wind on the sea' could mean water." Dean shrugged.

"My answer was better." I rolled my eyes at him and focused on finishing my calculus homework.

Some while I was finished, and took pity on Dean who was looking at his Shakespeare assignment in mute horror. We were almost finished with it when Gabriel came in.

"You guys ready to go visit Anna?"

Dean sighed in relief at the excuse to ditch his homework. Ten minutes later, we were all standing in front of the Impala.

"We're gonna need one more car." Sam pointed out.

* * *

Unfortunately, the worst were in front of us.

"Where do we go?" Ash asked, looking around.

"This way!" My brother and cousin chorused, and Gabriel pointed right at the same time Balthazar pointed left.

"I'm pretty sure it's that way." Jenna pointed at the sign that wrote 'psyciatric ward' which was right in the middle. We followed the sign, but it wouldn't be us if we didn't get lost again.

"I think we turn left here." Gabriel said.

"There _is_ no left." Jo reasoned.

"Do we go down the stairs?"

"What stairs?"

"Adam we're on the ground floor."

"Oh."

"Do we go-"

"Kevin stop talking."

"I'm pretty sure it's down the hall and then we go upstairs."

"EVERYBODY SHUT UP AND FOLLOW ME!" There was a moment of shocked silence when I raised my voice, but then everyone quickly obeyed. We successfully reached Anna's room five minutes later, only to be informed that she was in a theraphy session that wouldn't be dissmissed until late in the evening.

"So what do we do now?" Charlie echoed our thoughts.

"We go for ice cream!" Benny said sarcastically in fake enthousiasm. He looked beyond done with all of us. It was just his luck that Adam took the suggestion seriously and started chanting "ice cream, ice cream" while bouncing up and down in the corridor. Gabriel joined him soon after. Benny glared at the pair of them.

"Okay, fine. Let's go for ice cream." Agreed Dean with a sigh, who found it impossible to deny his little brothers anything.

And that, was how it started.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	5. Chrismas Holidays Here We Come

_Wow guys, you're awesome, do you know that? Anyway, thanks for your commitment to my story. I hope you like this chapter.  
_

 _And thank_ you _Katy, for reading my story._

 _ **Disclaimer:** I don't own anything you recognize._

* * *

5\. CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS HERE WE COME

"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT YOU LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!"

So it was going to be one of those mornings. I shook my head as I climbed out of bed, wondering why Benny was yelling. Gabriel probably pulled another prank on him. I walked down the stairs, stepping over an unconsious Balthazar, and entered the kitchen. The only people there were the two older Winchester brothers and an enraged Benny. I sat down at the kitchen table, pouring myself some cereal until something caught my eye.

Something purple.

I turned my head slowly around and met Benny's glare. He looked at the point of committing murder, and apparently the only thing holding him back was Dean.

"He changed your shampoo to purple hair dye, didn't he?" I asked and he growled his agreement, making me feel grateful I was not the one at the end of his anger.

"That prank is getting old anyway." Sam said, sliding in the seat next to mine and pooring himself his third glass of milk. "Charlie has already pulled it twice at Kevin and now Gabriel on Benny."

"It's the most efficient one though." Dean pointed out.

"Whose side are you on?" Benny glared at his friend as Dean held up his hands.

"Good morn- Benny what happened to your hair?" Jenna stopped short when she spotted Benny.

"My brother happened." I supplied when there was no answer from the Louisian. Jenna laughed and shook her head.

"Come on." She held a hand in the air, offering it to Benny. "I'll help you get the dye out. By the way, does anyone know why Balthazar is unconsious on the stairs?"

"He got caught in the crossfire." Dean said.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Fix him." She told Sam and then proceded to drag Benny out of the room. Charlie entered after them, singing the Christmas carorls and using her hairbrush as a microphone.

It didn't take long for the others to come down as well, and soon we were all sitting around eating breakfast. Well, almost everyone since Adam was still asleep.

"...JINGLE BELLS-"

"Charlie for the last fucking time shut the hell up while you still can." Kevin threatened, holding out his fork towards her.

"But... christmas spirit." Charlie looked so crushed I felt a pang of guilt for wanting her to stop.

"Christmas isn't until next week." Sam pointed out, waving her hand with the apple absent-mindly. The kid would not stop eating.

"Yeah, but Christmas holdidays start today." Charlie argued.

It was true, yesterday was the last day of school before the christmas holidays, and from today we were free for two weeks. It was just as well that we didn't have homework, because something told me no one would bother doing them.

I can't believe we have been living here for two months and this palce is already more home than our house in Illinois ever was. There were no doubts about us spending christmas here. We were all immediately included in the plans, no questions asked.

Anna was coming here too, and would already know her hosts since we had managed to visit her at some point. Mom would probably sent a card, and I hoped Dad would call or something, but it was a long shot since he didn't know that we moved.

"You could not be more wrong." Jenna replied to Gabriel. "I mean you could try, but you would not be successful." They were having an argument about one of Jenna's various tattoos.

"I'm not wrong." Gabriel huffed, folding his arms over his chest.

"I do not have the illuminati symbol on my neck Gabriel." Jenna sighed, sipping her coffee.

"What's the illuminati?" Jo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you have to ask?" I groaned.

"How do you not know about the illuminati?" Gabriel asked. He sounded scandilised.

"Because she has a life." Dean interjected and Gabriel glared at him.

"What is it?" Jo asked again.

"The illuminati is a secret society that has been around since 1776." Gabriel answered. "They want to create a one-world goverment, with themselves in charge. The Illuminati are generally powerful and rich people They will kill anyone, anywhere and anytime to get what they want."

"That's not how it is." Sam argued. Dean rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like "trust the geek to know about it." Sam ignored him and continued.

"A few hundred years ago there was this group of people and they had knowledge that could bring the world to a new era but they wouldn't share that infromation with anyone."

"How does that work?" Charlie asked and Jenna shrugged her reply.

"So, these certain people didn't agree with that and they stole the scriptures and hid. They called themselves 'the illuminati'." Sam finished.

"You don't actually believe this, do you?" Benny asked my brother.

"Of course I do." Gabriel replied. "Don't you?"

"No." Dean said as Benny shook his head. "It's ridiculous."

"Ha!" I yelled in triumph at my brother. After spending most of your life listening to that crap, it's good to know someone finds it as stupid as you do.

"It's not, they use significant figures to get their message through, like Beyonce and Lady Gaga!" Gabriel protested.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure these people, who consider themselves superior, say: "Hey, Queen B, be our representative to show some of the most important information of all time through the power of 'single ladies'." Jenna rolled her eyes, causing the rest of us to laugh as Gabriel huffed.

"They were just a bunch of lunatics back in the sixteenth century that claimed they knew something others didn't." Ash said simply.

"And anyway, Jenna's tatto is a binding sigil." Kevin piped up, making everyone look at him.

"See?" Jenna thrust her hands in Kevin's direction in a "what he said" way. "No illuminati crap."

"Whatever." Gabriel muttered, trying to hide his disappointment at our lack of enthusiasm in his belief. "I'll go pick up Anna."

"It's not even ten yet." Sam pointed out. My brother just glared at him as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Don't worry. He's just being grumpy." I assured Sam, who looked confused at Gabriel's reaction. "He takes the illuminati thing pretty seriously."

"Because it's the only thing about history he actually knows." Balthazar rolled his eyes. "I swear if I had to listen to that crap one more time-"

"On a brighter note," Charlie piped in, cutting off Balthazar's threat "we should decorate the house!" She looked around with a wide smile, obviously expecting us to be as excited as she was. Hr enthusiasm was met with mumbles and apathy, and Charlie pouted. "Guys come on! _Christmas spirit!_ "

"Fine." Dean said and put down his marmelade bread. "You want gingrebread houses or something?"

Charlie's eyes lit up like a little kid in a candy store. "Please?" She begged. Dean sighed.

"Fine, I'll make you gingerbread houses. Cas, you're helping me."

My head shot up at the mention of my name. "What? NO, I can't cook!"

"Don't care." Dean shrugged. "I'm not suffering this by myself." He grabbed my wrist and hauled me up from the chair. My complaints -which were mostly unformed words- were ignored, as Dean focused instead on throwing everyone outside his kitchen. Balthazar gave me a sympathetic pat in the back as he left, and I took great satisfaction to see my kick found it's target at the back of my cousin's knee.

It was a few hours later that Dean and I had _finally_ finished the gingerbread house, and we were starting to decorate it. The work was mostly Dean's since it had been become obvious early in our start that I couldn't cook to save my life. After burning our first house, ruining the icing once already and almost setting the coffee pot on fire, Dean decided that I should probably keep my help to minimal.

No one had come to bother us for the last five hours we spent in the kitchen (totally neglecting lunch, Jenna ordered burgers for everyone), we were so engrossed in our cooking that it was a surprise to see Gabriel walking into the kitchen with a plastic bag.

"Gingerbread man meteor shower!" Gabriel yelled, dumping a handful of mini gingerbread men from the bag onto the house Dean and I were decorating.

"HEY!" I exclaimed, because Gabriel had ruined all our hard work. Dean turned to me, an evil glint in his eyes, and together we squirted icing all over Gabriel's face.

"If you're gonna be a smartass Gabriel," Dean said with a satisfied smirk "you need to be smart. Otherwise you're just an ass."

"You guys suck unicorn balls, man." Gabriel muttered with a dark look towards us, wiping his face. "I'm going to bother Benny."

I rolled my eyes. "Good luck with that. Remember to leave the instructions for your funeral before you go, yeah?" Gabriel held up his middle finger to me as he walked out.

"Let's finish with this." Dean offered, giving our now half-decorated house that was covered in stray gingerbread men.

"It's ruined." I pouted. "God, I'm not making _another_ one."

"We'll fix it." Dean said with determination, although that was easier said than done. "I promised Charlie a gingerbread house, come on."

* * *

"Why does it look like it got caught in a hurricane?" Jo asked when we presented our, now finished, gingerbread house at the others. Dean and I had done our best to make it look less ruined, but the damage was still obvious.

"Because someone," I pointedly sent a glare towards Gabriel's direction "decided to throw gingerbread men on it." Gabriel had the nerve to grin.

"I like it." Anna said. Gabriel had brought her here about three hours ago, and I had been offended to find out no one had bothered to inform me.

"Thanks Anna." I smiled at my sister.

"So now we'll decorate the tree?" I groaned internally at Adam's excited tone. Dean met Sam's eyes, and they had one of those silent conversations those two could. Dean sighed, but he quickly masked it with a smile, not wanting to ruin Adam's enthusiasm.

"Yes Adam, we'll decorate the tree too."

It was a real challenge to get the decorations down from the attic, but in the end we did it. Adam and Charlie looked like their birthday came twice this year, but in the end, no one could keep a smile off our faces no matter how tired we were. Anna looked thrilled when Jenna asked her to help her, and I was glad for it. I didn't, under any circumstances, want Anna to feel as if she was useless or that she couldn't anything due to her mental illness.

"Dean, help me up." Jo said, stretching to reach on top of the fire place. Dean sighed, having already lifted Adam to put the star at the top of the tree, but he went and helped her climb onto his shoulders and put up the sock.

"Why aren't decorations scary anymore?" Dean asked when he came to where I was sitting on the coach. "We should put up scary decorations."

"It's not Halloween Dean." Sam pointed out, always eager to correct his older brother.

"We tried to put Castiel up on the door for Halloween once." Gabriel mused. The others looked between him and me in horror. "We though it would scare the neighbours."

I shuddered at the memory, it was not something I like to remember. I had been four at the time, and Gabriel and the twins had apparently decided that a baby on the door was the best Halloween decoration. Gabriel had been around nine, so it was not so surprising that he had suggested it, but the twins should have discouraged the idea instead of commiting it.

"And did it?" Ash asked.

"They though we killed him and avoided us. I'd say it did the trick." Gabriel replied.

"And Castiel had been four at the time, so he had gotten scared and started crying, and then Mom and Dad grounded you for the rest of the year." Anna reminded him.

"Dude, why the hell would you traumatize a four-year-old like that?" Kevin asked. Gabriel shrugged.

"And especially Cas." Charlie said, and reached from the other side of the couch and pulled me towards her. "He's so cute and innocent." She wrapped her arms around me and pinched my cheek. I laughed as I pushed her hand away.

"Innocent my ass." Gabriel snorted. "You should have seen his smug look as Mom and Dad screamed their voices horse at Michael, Lucifer and I. The little bastard was enjoying it."

"If someone had hang me at the door and then they got sued for it, I would be enjoying it too." Dean said in my defence, and I smirked thriumphically at my brother.

It was a long time before we went to sleep that night.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	6. Carolling, Monopoly and bets

_I know I'm terribly late and I have no excuse, sorry. The Christmas chapters are going to be three, even if December is four months away. It's short, I know, but I figured I'd just post it anyway. Also, the Monoploy scene was inspired from a game my friends and I played a few days ago; that's mainly were this chapter was based. They're always eating, I know, but...  
_

 _ **Disclaimer:** Eric Kripke will not give them to me.  
_

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6\. CAROLLING, MONOPOLY AND BETS  


The morning of Christmas eve, our number had decreased significantly.

"It's eight in the morning, _where_ is everybody?" Jo asked, helping herslef with a bowl of cereal. Ash shrugged.

"Balthazar and Gabriel are still sleeping, no chance they'd ever wake up before-"

"Hello." Benny greeted them, appearing out of nowhere and cutting me off; causing the four of us to jump six feet in the air. Kevin's (thankfully still empty) bowl smashed to pieces with a piercing noise.

"WHAT THE HELL'D YOU DO THAT FOR?" Jo asked, clutching her heart and staring at him with wide eyes.

"Nice to see you too." Benny rolled his eyes.

"Where is everybody?" I asked, sitting back down at my chair with a wary glance at the Louisian.

"They went...caroling." Benny shuddered.

"Carolling?" Kevin asked. "As in, singing at a random stranger's door?"

Benny nodded. "I feel sorry for the neighbours."

When Dean, Sam, Adam, Jenna and Charlie came back, my blood relatives had just woken up, and we all piled in the kitchen as usual. I sat down next to Kevin as Dean set a plate of eggs and bacon in the middle of the table and Jenna set two carton bottles of orange and apple juices.

"Why can't we have coffee?" Gabriel asked, helping himself some bacon. Benny pointed towards the broken coffee pot, that may or may not be my fault from the gingerbread house thing.

"It stunts your growth." Dean told him instead.

"Well it's not like Gabriel's gonna get any taller." Balthazar smirked. "Or get any shorter."

"I ain't that short!" Gabriel protested, making me snort. I was five years younger and half a head taller than him.

"Aww, what happened? Got flattened one too many times in Mario Cart?" Jenna smirked. Gabriel shot her a glare Michael would be proud of.

"Then why can't we have tea?" He asked again.

"It stains your teeth." Dean answered around a mouthful of bacon.

"You'd make one strict mum Dean." I said, making everyone laugh.

"For your information, I would make an awesome mum." Dean replied, rolling his eyes dramatically.

* * *

Apparently, our fate was to ever sit all together around in the kitchen table. It was nearing lunch time, and people were nearing the kitchen. I was sitting on the counter reading the Fellowship Of The Ring (which Charlie let me borrow) and simultaniously passing Dean things that were next to me. Sam had tried to cook today, without success, managing only to make Dean permanently forbid him from ever trying again.

"Do you want to play Monopoly?" Adam came running to his big brother, holding up the game's box.

"After we eat kiddo." Dean ruffled his hair with a smile and Adam nodded, running outside yellling to the others.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to play Monopoly?" I asked, passing him the salt. "It's not the most peaceful of games."

Dean shrugged. "How bad can it possibly be?"

Answer: _very_ _bad_. Advice for the future, never underestimate Monopoly. It can ruin the strongest of friendships. Of course, they all ignored my warning, and we sat in the living room after luch with the Monopoly's board open in front of us on the floor.

"Okay, I think it was Mrs. Black, in the kitchen with the knife." Gabriel said, looking pleased with himself.

"You're wrong Gabe." I said in a bored tone, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.

"How do you know?" Gabriel narrowed his eyes accusingly at me.

"We're playing Monopoly." Jo supplied in my place.

"Can you move me three?" Charlie asked from her upside-down position on the couch.

"Are you the iron?" Jenna asked, looking around the board for Charlie's piece.

"No, that's Balthazar." Sam said.

"Story of my life." Balthazar muttered from next to me.

"Here." Sam said and moved a shoe three blocks. "That's Charlie. Dean, your turn."

"No, I'm in jail." Dean shook his head and gestured for Benny to play.

It was a perfectly civilised game for some time. Of course, nothing in Monopoly stays civilised for long.

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!" Adam screamed. "YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW THE RULES!" Gabriel just offered him a sucker for the second time to make him stop.

"Playing this game was a bad idea." I said to Dean as I looked from Gabriel bribing Adam with candy in order to make him ignore my brother completely disregarding the rules, to Kevin and Ash who were passionately arguing over the card of Central Park.

"You don't say." Dean rolled his eyes, but his attention was soon diverted by an outraged Sam.

"SHE CAN'T JUST OWN THE REST!"

"WILL YOU CALM DOWN?" Benny roared, finally losing his patience after sitting between Sam and Jenna from the beggining of the game. The two had started something like a competition, and Jenna was winning.

"NO!" Sam screamed even louder. "IT'S NOT FAIR! JENNA HAS THE OXFORD STREET SET, THE VINE STREET SET, THE MAYFAIR SET, THE FLEET STREET SET AND I'M ON MY OWN AT THE OLD KENT ROAD." He looked at the point of commiting murder.

"It's not my fault I'm obviously superior to you in that game. You're just upset someone other than Ash bested you." Jenna accused, and then she smirked. "I WILL CONQUER EVERYWHERE!" She yelled in a delighted voice.

"Calm down Adolf Hitler." Benny said and put two hands on her shoulders, gently pulling her away from the board and Sam.

"THIS IS NOT A TEAM, THIS IS DICTATORSHIP!" Kevin screamed some time after.

"Since when are we playing with teams?" Dean frowed and looked over at me. I shrugged. I honestly had no clue what was going on anymore.

"You have to play by the rules guys!" Adam repeated for the fifth time.

"Fine! Look, I rolled a six!" Balthazar gestured at the dice.

"That's a nine." Jo pointed out.

"I don't give a fuck, I'm taking six. One, two, three-" very number was accompanied with his piece banging at the board with force.

"Look!" Sam suddenly yelled with fake enthusiam. "Chance: earthquake, everything destroyed except Old Kent Road." And with that he shook the board and all the pieces tumbled everywhere.

"You're a very competitive person Sam." I said. The truth is, I was actually enjoying mself despite the heated atmosphere and the fact that I had stopped trying to make sense of how the game processed a while ago. It was the most fun I've had in a while.

"Five bucks say the'll be dating by tomorrow." Dean said as he leaned towards me, his eyes fixed on Benny and Jenna; who were sitting next to each other with zero respect for personal space. I smiled as I shifted my eyes to Dean.

"I don't make bets, but you're not wrong." I said. Dean grinned at me, and I did my best to ignore the fluttering feeling in my chest.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	7. The Embarrassing Stories Dinner

_This is so dreadfully late, guys I am SO sorry about it. I was out of town, and will be out of town for the next few weeks and all I can say is that am really sorry.  
_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Still no._

* * *

7\. CHRISTMAS THERAPY SESSION AND EMBARASSING CHILDHOOD STORIES  


It was Christmas day and I'm pretty sure Dean felt like murdering half the people in the house. He was under pressure to make everything right, but people were talking, arguing, laughing and yelling all around him. Jo helped a bit when she wasn't flirting with Balthazar, and Jenna would have too, probably, but she and Benny were nowhere to be seen. I offered him some help, but he looked more horrified than grateful. I can't blame him. I wouldn't trust me around the kitchen either after the last fiasco.

So instead I seated myself at the kitchen table with a book, and a while after Sam came into the kitchen, looking upset and confused.

"What's wrong Sam?" Dean asked, ever the worrying mother hen.

Sam hung his head. "I lost my shoe." Both Dean and I stopped what we were doing to look down at Sam's feet, where one of his shoes was missing.

Dean took a deep breath. "Okay, KEVIN!" A head full of black hair appeared on the doorway. "Will you find Sam a pair of shoes please?"

The Asian boy looked confused, but he helped Sam anyway. That was when Jenna came in.

"THAT'S IT!" Dean exploded. Jenna frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?" She asked, looking at me with confusion, but Dean answered before I could.

"I am cooking a seven meal on my own since none of you idiots know how to cook." His words were accompanied by a pointed look. "So all of you will stay out of my kitchen."

"I know how to cook!" Jenna protested.

"Why does it have to be seven courses?" I asked. I knew we were twelve people, plus Anna who was allowed to come over for Christmas holidays, but seven courses seemed a bit overkill. None of us would eat that much. Well maybe Dean would, but still.

"It's a tradition." Jo explained, popping out in a chair next to me like some sort of dandelion. "My parents used to do it every year."

"I still think it's a bit too much." I insisted, and surprisingly, Charlie diverted her attention from her video game with Ash to contribute in the conversation.

"Yeah," she added, "there are people in the world dying of starvation."

"Fine." Dean said, grabbing his pen. "What are their names? I'll add them to the list." Charlie put her book down and shoved Dean out of his chair. Dean, for his part, let out a dramatic exclamation of _"Peter, Paul and Mary, I'm going down!"_ before he landed with his butt on the floor. I'm pretty certain Jenna, Jo and I were laughing for a good fifteen minutes. Dean was just glaring at us.

When my laugh subsided and I could catch my breath, I offered him a hand. He accepted it, but instead of letting me help him up he yanked it hard, and I let out a yelp as I was pulled down with him.

"You assbutt!" I smacked his arm and tried to disentangle myself from him, trying -and failing- to hide my smile. Dean laughed, seemingly not at all bothered that I was practically on top of him. Lowering my head did nothing to hide my scarlet cheeks, and I pretended it was from the embarrassment.

After we managed to stand up again, Dean practically shoved us out of the kitchen. "Entertain yourselves!" He yelled before slamming the door in our faces.

* * *

"Dude seriously." I said with my mouth full. "Where did you learn to cook like that?"

A seven-course meal for twelve people, as it turned out, was just enough. Granted Dean ate twice the quantity any of us did, (except maybe Gabriel) and even Sam devoured his second helping.

The food was delicious, far better than anything I had eaten at Christmas dinner in my life.

Dean laughed. "On my own." Dean shrugged at my widened eyes. "Dad was always away and we were moving all the time and at some point Sam and I grew sick of fast foods, so I learned how to cook."

"Wow. I can barely work the toaster." Dean laughed.

"Not even that!" Gabriel said. "Oh, I remember that one time..." I let out a groan, knowing that an embarrassing childhood story was following and prepared myself for the worse.

"Castiel must have been around five or six. He came and told me he was hungry, and I decided to make him toast. I put the bread in the toaster, explained how it worked and went to get something -I don't remember what. After three minutes or so, I hear a high-pitched scream from the kitchen." Gabriel made a dramatic pause. "What happened? Was my little brother brutally murdered in our own house? I run into the kitchen and there was Castiel, sitting curled up in a corner, his arms around his legs and two bread loafs in the floor next to him. And he looks at me with blue, watery eyes and whispers "You didn't tell me they flew out."" Despite my cheeks having taken a scarlet color, I couldn't help laughing along with them.

"That reminds me of that one time..." Jo said, and that is how our meal turned to a recalling of our sibling's most embarrassing stories. We learned that Sam and Dean were both fluent in Latin (who would have thought?) and the last story with the lake and Kevin's underwear had to be the most hilarious thing I've ever heard.

After lunch, we all opened our presents since Sam hadn't let us open them before -to Gabe and Adam's great disappointment. No had really strictly bought presents for the rest of us, it was more like some of us got presents and the others laughed at them. It was all us well, because it made me feel less guilty since I didn't have a present for everyone. The only person we all collectively gave Christmas presents to was Adam. The little boy would not stop smiling all afternoon.

* * *

"What are we doing again?" Balthazar asked, seating himself next to Jo. Our large group of teens had formed a circle -although it did not resemble one- in the living room, next to the decorated tree.

"It's for a psychology exercise I have to do." Anna explained, taking out a box and a pen. "Consider this a therapy session. Basically I'm going to analyze how such a large group of people get along so well."

"You're not here half the fucking time!" Dean protested.

"Just 'cause you spent all your time flirting with my little brother doesn't mean other people aren't around too." My cheeks flushed, and I very pointly avoided looking at Dean. It wasn't true!

"I'm not-" Dean sputtered but Jenna shushed him.

"Now we're going to-" Anna began again, but she was cut off by Balthazar.

"You forgot the badges." He said, pointing to a part of his shirt where he believed a badge should be present.

"Badges?" Anna frowned. "What badges?"

"Y'know, badges." Balthazar said. "My name is Balthazar Roche and I'm a fucking lunatic."

"We don't- That's not a thing!" Anna sounded offended.

"Sure is." Gabriel replied, oblivious to Anna's displeasure. "I'll make some." He tried to get up but Anna pulled him back.

"Sit your ass down and stop being a jerk." She instructed. "Now, I want each one of you to write a secret or problem about yourselves in a slip of paper anonymously, put it in the box and we'll all work together to find a solution." She explained.

Knowing no one was bound to take this seriously, quickly wrote that my brother was a douchebag and I needed to find a cure, and put it inside the box. After everyone had written something down, we handed the box to Anna and she pulled one at random.

"My friend's cousin's sister's uncle's grandmother's friend's goldfish died and I don't think I'll be able to cope." She read. "Okay, who wrote this?" She sighed as the rest of us laughed. She picked up another one. "What if I go to sleep and grow boobs in the middle of the night?"

We all laughed harder, and I minutely registered that it was a good thing Adam was playing with his new toys upstairs. Anna smiled as she read through all the slips of paper, that were either jokes or stupid questions.

"Okay." She pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, a habit that she had picked up from our mother. "We'll do this again tomorrow and you better take it seriously." She warned and dismissed us. I offered to help Anna clean up since no one else did, and together we gathered the slips and threw them in the garbage can.

I was about to leave when I noticed one of the papers had fell next to the can. Bending to pick it up, I noticed that it had not been read. Across the white surface were written with scribbled letters the words: _Does crushing on your best friend count?_

Deciding it had to be either Benny's or Jenna's, I threw it in the can with the rest of the papers without a second thought.

* * *

 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	8. Backstories Are Given And Tears Are Shed

_This is so late I can't even begin to apologize. But to those who are interested to my excuses, school sucks and it just gets in the way. It's only the second week and I have tons of stuff to do. Our English teacher made us write a two-page essay in our first class together, who_ does _that?  
_

 _The chapter offers some insight on my view about twilight, and it is merely my opinion, it's not to offend anyone._

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Do you really think the show would be that sad if I owned it?  
_

* * *

8\. FLASHBACK STORIES  


The holidays were officially over and I was not the only to resent that. Kevin was actually excited about going back to school, Ash didn't care in true Ash-fashion, Sam and Jo were indifferent about it; not happy but not necessarily disappointed either. Benny had already graduated so he was actually looking forward to it, not having all of us in the house and Jenna kept nagging about it, along with Charlie. The way Balthazar and Dean were going on about would give you the impression that they were going to serve a lifetime sentence in prison and Adam was downright devastated. Gabriel, surprisingly shared the feeling, even tough he was not going to school.

When I entered the kitchen in time for lunch, everyone was already there. Benny and Jo with Adam were sitting on the couch that was, for some unknown reason, now in the kitchen. Kevin and Ash could be heard playing video games in the living room and Jenna and Sam were laying on the counter eating strawberries. Gabriel was sitting with his feet propped up on the table.

"What's for lunch?" Charlie asked, walking inside the kitchen after me.

"Well it was going to be soup but Sam burned it." Dean replied, cracking an egg in the frying pan.

"How can you burn soup?" Gabriel frowned.

"How did your cereal catch on fire this morning?" Balthazar retorted.

"It was an accident!" My brother defended.

"Oh shut up you two!" Jenna threw a towel at Gabriel's face.

Generally, it started out as a normal morning at Singer's Foster Home. Which is why I was a little surprised when we all ended up talking about our families. Everyone around here was very loud and talkative, except about themselves. And the family topic is a bit personal in a foster home, although it was obvious that they all knew about how each of them ended up here. Charlie said that it was some kind of ritual because we earned their trust, and therefore their stories, but trust Charlie to come up with a secret complicated handshake for the occasion.

Ellen Harvelle, as it turned out was married to a guy named Bill, Ash and Jo's biological father. They became friends with Bobby Singer after he died, during which time his son, Garth was still at home and his wife, Karen, already dead. Years later, when Garth left for college, they got married and it was after the Winchesters, Charlie and Kevin started living there that they legally opened the foster home.

Charlie was from Lebanon, and apparently her real name is not Charlie Bradbury but Celeste Middleton, who knew? Her parents died in a car accident and she ended up at Bobby's by accident while she was running from Child Services. She changed her name so that no one would be able to find her, and being the great hacker she is, even created a 'valid' birth certificate.

Shortly after, Kevin showed up as well, he, too, running away from Child Services. His father died when he was little, and his mother died when a pipe broke in her office and the place blew up. Kevin was convinced that the Child Services were demons or something, and they were trying to kidnap him. Honestly, I don't know if it was from the shock (he was very close with his mother) or if he was just high. Knowing Kevin it could be either.

Benny's family was apparently a bunch of assholes that made money from illegally selling drugs to anyone that would buy them. Benny was pretty deep in, but then he started dating a girl named Andrea. He stated he was in love with her, and Jenna didn't bat an eyelash which just confirmed my suspicions that the story-thing was mostly for us. Then she mysteriously disappeared one night, or as Benny put it, his father made sure to get her out of the way. Whatever it was, Benny run away and met with Dean, which resulted in staying at Bobby's place.

Sam recounted how their mother died in a fire, and about their father's second marriage with Adam's mom, Kate Milligan, and ended with both their murders. Dean was silent the whole time, sitting at the corner as if he was trying to disappear into the wall and he wouldn't meet anyone's eyes.

Jenna spoke last, telling about how her parents and her older brother died in a plane crush when they were going on holiday. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she held her head high as we recounted how she survived and how she took a bus and ended up at Lawrence. Despite the obvious pain the memory brought her, her voice didn't waver once, earning the honest respect of both Gabriel and Balthazar, something extremely difficult to achieve.

When they all finished I was honor-bound to add a piece about my family. I started at Michael and Lucifer's fallout and continued with my Dad being kicked out of the house. Then Gabriel, with no small amount of bitterness said about the cold machine my mother had become and how Michael mimicked her. Finally we ended with Lucifer getting himself arrested robbing a bank and Anna's sudden schizophrenia.

Benny whistled when I finished, a look equal parts impressed and respectful.

"Your older brother got caught robbing a bank?" Charlie asked. "And I thought Benny and I were bad..."

The conversation continued in a light chatter, but I wasn't paying much attention. My eyes caught Dean slipping away from the laughing party, and remembering his state when Sam was recounting their parent's death, I excused myself and followed him. It took me a while, but finally I found him, laying with his back on the hood of the Impala, watching the sky darken.

"Hey." I said, in loss of anything else to say and settled myself on the front engine. Dean didn't speak and I didn't really know what to say, so I let the silence stretch for what felt like hours. It wasn't awkward like I was anticipating it to be, instead it felt comfortable, comforting even.

The sky was finally begining to take a golden red color when Dean found his voice.

"I was four when my Mom died." He started suddenly. I figured he had to get it out and talk to someone, so I let him continue without interrupting. "I remember the whole thing crystal clear, even after all those years it still plays in my head like a movie. The fire started from Sammy's room, that's where my Mom was in. I remember waking up to raised voices and the suffocating scent of smoke. I run out, searching for my parents, and my Dad was outside the nursery which was licked with orange flames. He has holding Sammy in his arms and when he spotted me, he thrust the bundle with the baby with an expression of sheer terror.

 _"Take your brother outside as fast as you can, go Dean, go!"_ The flames were spreading, and it smelled of smoke and burnt flesh and I was freaking _terrified,_ so I run. I was already outside when I regained my ability to realize what I was doing, and then my Dad was there, drawing me even further from the burning house and his hands encircled me and Sammy. He was crying, holding us so tight like we would disappear if he didn't hold tight enough and I couldn't understand what was going on because it all happened so quickly."

He slid from the hood and sat next to me, his eyes downcast and pointedly avoiding to look at me.

"I was numb, and it wasn't until a few days later in Missouri's house that I finally understood what had actually happened. That my Mom wasn't coming back." His voice broke at the end, and I realized that he wasn't looking at me because he was fighting back tears. I put an arm around his shoulders, and surprisingly Dean leaned into the touch. "My Dad was never the same, never quite as happy as he had been with Mom, but with Kate he came close. When Adam was born he had so content, we had all been, we finally had a family again. But then they-"

Dean's voice broke as he choked back a sob. Deciding that he needed some true comfort and not my previous half-assed gesture, I put both my arms around him and pulled him close in a hug. At first Dean tensed, but then all his defenses fell and buried his head in my chest, wrapping both arms around me and sobbing. I whispered nonsense until his crying subsided, soothingly rubbing circles on his back.

It was all so weird really. A few months ago I would have never thought that I would ever find myself in a salvage yard, sitting on a shiny car, comforting someone like Dean. Hell, a few months ago I would have never imagined that a house with loud and obnoxious teenagers would have felt more like home than mine ever did.

Finally, after some time Dean seemed to collect himself. He detached himself from me, and gave a half-hearted chuckle, avoiding my eyes. "You are not allowed to tell _anyone_ about this." His green eyes were red and puffy from crying, and they focused on anything but me. He was ashamed, the realization was sudden and the startled sensation was soon replaced a warmth of sorts.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I said, which earned a small smile from Dean. He stole a glance at me, and when I returned the smile, his own widened just a little.

"I mean it." He said, now fully looking me. "If you tell anyone, remember, I know how to hide a body." He was teasing, the grin in his face was a give-away.

"I won't." I promised, and despite the joking moment I was serious. Dean nodded once and then he hoped off the car.

"Come on, I think we're watching a movie tonight."

* * *

It turns out, it _was_ movie night tonight, but when we walked into the living room the movie was one I definitely didn't expect to find the rest of the guys watching.

"Can someone please explain to me why the hell are we watching Twilight?" Dean said the name of the movie with obvious disgust, starring up at the TV screen.

"Because Twilight is the greatest love story of all time!" Ash defended the movie, throwing some popcorn at the floor with his movements.

"You have to be kidding me." Jo told her brother.

"Where would this movie be considered the greatest love story of all time?" I asked because honestly, the movie was awful. I may have never seen it myself but I had seen bits and pieces on TV and judging by the reviews, one of those british series with the lords and the cliche romances would have been a better choice.

"In a parallel universe where my hair is straight and so are you." Balthazar replied. I noticed Gabriel was asleep drooling on the couch next to him, and suddenly I regretted not having a camera with me. Although to be honest, Balthazar must have already done that.

"They are such boring characters." Benny said, referring to Edward and Bella.

"Lord, they are like Siamese twins joined by their boring personalities." Dean agreed.

"It's conjoint twins." Sam corrected. Dean rolled his eyes dramatically in a silent who-the-fuck-cares.

"Bella should have stayed with her mother." Jenna decided. "I mean, c'mon! She came to Arizona to spend time with her father, and ended up with that emotionally abusive creep who puts the name vampire to shame. She gets progressively more depressed as the movie goes by and he is such a possessive asshole it's not even funny."

"That's it, we're changing it." Jo decided. "Adam kiddo, I'm so sorry you had to suffer through this." She sat up and turned on the lights, searching in the DVD drawer.

"Charlie, suggest a movie." Kevin said, but his words met empty air because Charlie had fallen asleep. "Charlie!" Kevin threw a pillow at her. That turned to be more effective. Charlie sat up like she had been struck by lighting.

"What?" She asked sleepily, fixing the glasses on her nose. The sensation of bubbling laughter that followed was something I had come to associate with home.

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 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._

 _My other supernatural story "Hey Jude" has been deleted due to copryright stuff and WILL be updated again when I throughtly re-write it. Thanks for understanding._


	9. Closets, Notebooks and Idiotic Brothers

_The good news is that I am not dead. The bad news is that this is short, and the next one will probably be late too. Do you want to know why? Because school. I just can't seem to take a break from studying this year. Also, I wanted to say that since I have so little time, it's getting harder for me to find the inspiration to write. So could you guys maybe leave a review after you've finished reading this? I know that many people are following the story, but the reviews are practically non-existant. Reading your thoughts on my work really helps my writer blocks, and it would be great to hear what you guys have to say. Thanks.  
_

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Sadly, no.  
_

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9\. SCARING PEOPLE RESULTS TO SCREAMS, WHICH RESULTS TO YOUR FRIENDS THINKING YOU'RE TORTURING SAID PEOPLE

Everybody had gone to bed a long time ago, but when I came down the stairs to get some water, Benny and Jenna were watching a horror movie in the living room. They were so distracted that they didn't hear me come in, and I decided to use this as my advantage.

As they music in the movie started to become sinister and creepy, I tiptoed quietly over to them, coming behind the couch.

"BOO!"

Jenna let out a scream as Benny jumped and nearly fell off the couch.

"What's wrong with you?" Jenna shouted, while I clutched my sides from the pain of too much laughter.

"You nearly gave us a heart attack, you inconsiderate asshole." Benny said, hitting me with a cushion. I was too preoccupied laughing to care.

"You- you should- have seen- your faces!" I finally managed between laughs.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Jenna asked with a scowl.

"I came down to get a drink." I answered, trying to steady my breathing, when Charlie decided that we had apparently spent too much without hearing her voice.

"WE ARE FAMILY!"

"ALL MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND ME!" Balthazar's voice yelled back.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO SLEEP!" That was definitely Gabriel, and by the sounds that followed, he had tried to physically make our cousin shut up.

"WHY ARE WE YELLING THROUGH THE WALLS?" Adam asked, his raised voiced still laced with sleepiness.

"IS THAT A THING NOW?" Benny, Jenna and I exchanged a glance as the rest of our housemates continued their conversation in shouting tones. It was a good thing that the closest house was a mile away, but then again, that was probably why the place was still standing.

"NO!" Dean sounded horrified.

"IS SOMEBODY TORTURING JENNA?" Kevin asked with an edge of terror in his voice.

"OF COURSE NOT!" The girl with the blue hair screamed from the stairs, sounding appalled.

"DO YOU GUYS WANNA HEAR A JOKE?"

"NO. WE FUCKING DON'T. EVERYBODY SHUT THE HELL UP AND GO BACK TO SLEEP!" Sam screamed finally.

"TOO LATE!" Charlie screamed back, and then somehow Benny, Jenna and I found ourselves ducking away from a crowd of furious people. Gabriel and Sam were hunting down Balthazar and Charlie, who were running through the house screaming bloody murder, Dean was holding Adam who looked like he could fall asleep on his feet, Kevin sat in a couch looking like a zombie and next to him Jo was loudly complaining because her brother had managed to sleep through the whole thing.

Dean walked towards us, looking by far more awake than Adam, and handed the kid to Jenna who immediately went to full mother mode, settling him in her arms at the nearest couch and rocking him gently until he fell asleep not long after.

"It's almost six." Dean sighed.

"Really?" I asked. I hadn't realized it was that late. Or you know, that early.

"I'll go get ready for school." He said in resignation and I gave him an encouraging smile as he dragged himself towards the stairs.

"Hey, where are you going?" Gabriel asked, pausing in his tracks along with Sam and their prey. "Who's going to make us breakfast?"

"I'm not your freaking housewife, you ass, do it yourself." Came Dean's reply from the stairs. Gabriel huffed as Balthazar laughed at him, which resulted in them chasing each other again.

"Move aside bitches!" Charlie exclaimed with delight. "The queen's making breakfast!"

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"Charlie, I have no idea how you managed to undercook this, yet it to a crisp at the same time." Dean said, staring down at the pot in the oven. We had all gotten ready a long time ago, and as it turned out we would probably have to skip breakfast because Charlie's skills in the kitchen were as good as mine. Meaning none.

"I'm just that talented?" Charlie suggested weakly, looking in the pot.

"Okay, throw it out before it stinks up the whole house." Jo said, covering her nose with her shirt.

"Jesus Christ Charlie!" Exclaimed Sam, opening the window to let some fresh air inside. "What were you making?"

Charlie shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Dean let out a long suffering sigh, like an exasperated parent who was completely done with his children. It reminded me of Dad's reaction to Gabriel's experiments that usually almost burned the house down. "We don't have time to make anything else, just pile in the car and get some cash to buy something."

"Hold on." i said, as it suddenly downed on me that I had left one of the notebooks I needed for chemistry, lying somewhere in my room. "I need to go pick something."

Dean sighed again. "You leave." He told the others. "I'm stay here and drive Mr. Amnesia to school later."

I sent Dean a dirty look, but I was relieved that he had decided to stay with me. Otherwise, Gabriel would have had to drive me to school, which was going to happen over my cold, dead body or alternatively Benny, but I didn't feel very comfortable asking him, so I would have probably ended up walking three miles.

Dean followed me to my room, and stood in the doorway as I rummaged through my desk and my drawers, trying to remember where I had last left it. Some time passed where there was no sound save the rustling of paper and drawers rolling open. Dean must have suspected that this might take a while, because he dropped his bag and fell dramatically at the bed. A smacking sound filled the air.

"You alright?" I asked as I continued to search through the drawers.

"I hit my head against the wall." Came Dean's slightly pained response.

"Why?" I didn't bother to turn around and look at him.

"It said something funny so I thought it deserved a high five." He said dryly. "Why do you think? It was an accident."

"At least you didn't break your sense of humor." I noted, throwing some of my drawings aside and making sure they were not visible to Dean as I shoved them inside another drawer.

"Never my dear." Dean quipped back, and for some time we fell into silence again.

"Check in the closet." I addressed Dean as I looked under Gabriel's bed.

"Um Cas?" Dean asked. "What are you searching for?"

"My chemistry notebook." I replied without getting up.

"And why would it be in the closet?" He sounded weirded out a bit, and I didn't blame him.

"Are you kidding?" I asked, finally turning to look at him. "I live with Gabriel and Balthazar. I could find my notebook in the bathroom closet and I wouldn't be surprised.

"Okay..." Dean looked at me weirdly, but nevertheless he got up to search. "It's not here." He called after a few moments.

"Oh come on!" I said, mostly to myself. "It _has_ to be there, it's not anywhere else!" I strode over to him, looking inside the messy closet over his shoulder. Then suddenly I felt a push in my back, and then before I knew it I had been shoved inside the closet with Dean, it's door locking behind me. It's all as well that it was pitch black inside, because it meant that Dean couldn't see my scarlet face as I landed on him.

"Sorry, I'm so sorry-" I tried to apologize, but Dean cut me off.

"It's- it's fine, you don't have to- it's... don't worry about it." He stuttered as he helped me to my feet.

"I'm going to kill him." I said, forgetting my embarrassment for a moment and solely focusing on my brother's murder plan.

"Who?" Dean sounded confused.

"Gabriel." I said. I was certain it had been my brother, because he was the one who usually pulled stupid stuff like that. "It's his fault we're stuck in here. What the hell was he trying to do anyway?"

"Well..." Dean sounded the most awkward I've ever heard him.

"What?" I managed to avoid snapping at him. After all, it was not his fault that Gabriel was an asshole.

"There's this thing you do, sometimes-" Dean interrupted himself and took a deep breath. "Once I'm out of here I'm going to end Charlie- anyway, sometimes middle school kids do that thing where they lock to people in a closet and not let them out until they kiss."

I frowned. "But why would you do that?" I automatically tilted my head in confusion, it's a knee-jerk reaction, okay? "You don't know if they are going to kiss or not. you can't see them; how do you know when to let them out?"

"Gee Cas, I don't know."

"So how are we going to get out of here?" I asked finally.

"Bang on the door until Benny hears it and open it?" Dean suggested weakly.

"That's a terrible plan."

"It's our only plan." Dean pointed out. I sighed, because he was right. I didn't have a better idea.

"Okay, try." I said in resignation and slid to the floor as Dean started banging on the door like a maniac. i felt like a kid hiding in the basement during a bombing at World War 2. It didn't take long though, because a few minutes later he suddenly stopped.

"What?" I asked at the lack of noise I had grown accustomed to in the last minutes.

"I'm the stupidest person I've ever met." Dean said, and from the smacking sound that followed I guessed he smacked his hand over his forehead.

"Gosh, and I thought something important happened."

Dean threw me a dirty look, but he went on talking. "I know how to prick locks."

I sat up straighter against the back of the closet. "Why the hell didn't you say that earlier?" I asked, with no small amount of incredulity.

"I can't do it in the dark." Dean said, and I sighed, putting my face in my hands as Dean sat down next to me.

"Back when I was around eleven years old," He started to say after a few moments to fill the silence, "I used to go searching for cars that had a ' _No Radio in Car'_ signs. I'd take a removable radio, of a type that was very popular at the time, and threw it as hard as I could at the car window with a sign that said, _'Now you have one.'"_

I laughed despite myself.

"When I was nine, I had gone through this obsession with puzzles. It went to the point where each one of my siblings got annoyed with me every time I suggested it, even Anna sometimes, who was always eager to play with me. Anyway, the only one who looked genuinely excited every single time I asked him to make a puzzle with me was my Dad. No matter what time it was, or how tired he was or he had been doing, he would always drop everything and play with me." I smiled at the memory, allowing my eyes to water for just a moment before I shook my head and away my tears. "Get up and prick the lock." I told Dean.

"I can't do it in the dark." Dean argued.

"Well, _I_ can't stay in here forever. Prick the freaking lock."

"Fine." Dean said. "Cas?"

"What?"

"I found your notebook."

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 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


	10. The Wedding Announcement

**_HI! This is late and short, but I took part n Eldhoron's drabble challenge and I kind of neglected my other stories to meet the deadline. Sorry._**

 ** _Disclaimer:_** _Let me check- um... no.  
_

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10\. PHONE CALL IN MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, BUT IT'S GOOD NEWS

Usually, when the phone rings in the middle of the night, it's never good news. Of course, nothing is ever like it normally should in Singer's Foster Home, so the phone call ended up being amazing news. For everyone else anyway. For some weird reason, we all ended up sitting in the living room as Jo talked on the phone in the kitchen, instead of trying to go back to sleep. I really don't know why.

"Why aren't we sleeping?" Ash asked.

"Because-" Kevin started but he was interrupted.

"You are never going to believe what happened!" Jo came bouncing into the room.

"Who's dead?" Benny asked. Jo scowled at him.

"Garth's getting married!" She squeaked, and a huge grin spread in her face. Those three words got everyone's immediate attention.

"Really?" Sam said at the same time Jenna exclaimed "No way!"

"That's wonderful news!" Charlie squeaked and clapped her hands in excitement. Then she and Adam starting jumping around in the living room, chanting "Garth's getting married" over and over again.

"Who the fuck is Garth?" Gabriel said, drawing everyone's attention to himself.

"He's Bobby's son." Dean said.

"You know, my step-father who used to own the place." Ash supplied when Balthazar frowned.

"Oh."

"Well congratulations." I said, a bit awkwardly, having nothing else to say.

"Oh, you'll tell him himself!" Jo said. "He and Bess are coming here next week!" And then everybody started talking and squealing together again. I felt very out of place, and judging by the looks around, so did my dear brother and cousin.

A hand grabbed mine, and I instinctively tried to pull back, but I stopped when I realized it was just Dean.

"Come on." He grinned at me and I let him drag me to wherever it was he wanted to go. We went out the front door and to the back of the house, where Dean walked towards a ladder beside the yellow walls.

I only realized our hands were still intertwined together when I stopped and I felt a tug in my arm before Dean turned around to look at me.

"What?" He frowned.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Dean suddenly smirked. "Roof." He said. "Come on." And he dragged me towards the ladder. Reluctantly, I started to climb up.

"Don't worry." Dean said from a few steps beneath me. "You won't fall."

When we reached the roof, we settled down beside each other. I don't know why Dean would want to climb on the roof, but he didn't seem as comfortable as I would have expected him to be.

"I'm not very fond of heights." He said, unknowingly answering my question. "But I like to come up here, sometimes, to see the sun go up." He laid down with his back and I mimicked him. "And I noticed that you weren't feeling very comfortable back there and thought that since we're up so early..."

"That's very considerate of you." I said, grateful for the lack of light, because I was certain my cheeks were tinged pink.

"Garth's a nice guy." Dean said after a few moments. "He's kinda shy, but he's great and like Charlie's unique personality, he grows on you. Bess is nice too. They come from time to time, check up on us."

A comfortable silence fell between us, watching the sky lighten as the sun went up.

"The sunrises are beautiful out here." I said as I watched the different colors of the morning sky in it's wake. I closed my eyes, throwing my head slightly back, letting the lengthening rays warm my face.

"Yeah..." Dean said and it sounded as if he was not entirely here. We stayed silent for a while, until I felt Dean's eyes on me. I turned slightly towards him, meeting his green eyes that looked almost golden in the morning sunlight. For a moment I was too transfixed to look away, and it should be uncomfortable, the long starring between us, but Dean's eyes were fixed on mine and it didn't feel wrong.

Suddenly Dean wrecked his eyes away, focusing them on the sunrise.

"When Anna..." Dean seemed to hesitate. "When Anna is released from the hospital, are you going to back with your mom?"

"When Anna is released from the hospital I'm gonna stay here and go to college." I said. It was a decision I made sometime after Christmas. I realized that I didn't want to leave. This place felt far more like home than mine ever did. It's getting a bit tiring to admit it to myself all the time, but it's true.

Dean grinned at me. "That's great. You're gonna study art, right?" I nodded, somewhat surprised that he remembered. "You know," He said slowly, "I've never seen you draw."

I averted my eyes. "Nobody seems me draw."

"Why not?" Dean sounded genuinely troubled.

I took a deep breath. "I guess I- I don't really like showing people things. They tend to give their opinion."

"Yeah, I get that." He smiled up at me. "Come on." He said, suddenly sitting up. "Let's go back in the house before Sam decides to make pancakes."

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 _So? What do you think? Reviews are always appreciated._


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